A Texas panhandle boy loses his family and farm in the Dust Bowl. Woodrow Wilson Nickel heads towards the east coast and the only family that will take him in. He’s barely made it when the Great Hurricane of 1938 rips everything apart. And what does he see in the “middle of flipped boats and buildings afire and sirens wailing”? A couple of giraffes.
Thus begins West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge, Fauquier Public Library’s choice for the 2025 Community Read.
The novel chronicles the 12-day, 3,200-mile cross-country trip to deliver two giraffes in a pickup truck to the San Diego Zoo. Enthralled at how the event brought Americans together during one of the most uncertain times in history, Rutledge used more than 30 nation-wide newspaper clippings as the basis of her novel.
This marks the fourth time the library has invited the community to read the same book and share a common experience -- in this case, how people can be changed by the grace of animals and the kindness of strangers.
We’ve got lots of copies of West with Giraffes. Stop by your library today and check out a copy and get started reading this great historical novel.
Here’s an added benefit.
Readers can meet the author at “An Evening with Lynda Rutledge,” 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 11 at the Rice Theater in Warrenton. Rutledge will discuss researching and writing West with Giraffes and how giraffes, a threatened species, need protection.
The program is free and open to the public. Save your seat by calling 540.422.8500 x2 or register online.
This year’s community read is made possible by the PATH Foundation, the Margaret Spilman Bowden Foundation and the Friends of the Fauquier Library. We’re grateful that these institutions support our mission to share the joy and power of the written word.
Maria Del Rosso
Director, Fauquier County Public Library
